Oh, it's breaking especially the WHITE packs. It was a horrible experience. Strung on Thursday - picked up on Friday. Took it out - wanting to play with it on Saturday afternoon, but the string already snapped on the 7 o'clock area of the frame. Took it back to the shop 10 mins because closing on that same saturday and asked them to re-string it again with my the white vs 850. Picked it up on Tuesday afternoon after work, and did an inspection. To MY and the cashier's surprise (same girl), the string snapped at the same 7 o'clock area. I didn't have any strings on hand, and they offered me to choose ANY strings for a restring, so i chose the BG80 I've haven't had any problems with the BLUE or LIME GREEN variants.
Sadly the packs have been breaking like crazy recently. It's a shame because it's by far my favourite string.
Tried VS850 and BG66UM before, excellent strings... for the first 2 weeks... then feel goes down the drain as tension drops. Good for tournaments, but not for us recreational players who only string once a month.
Not a grommet problem, because this shop is good with grommet replacements. Enough about this. I think the orange ashaway strings looks good. I'll definitely stock up on them if I like the new line up in 2015.
Have a little more experience with the 66Power and 60XS. Must say that the feel, grip and repulsion of the 60XS is very very sweet. Perhaps (dare I say) better than Z62. Drops, net shots, blocks and slice shots all had great control. Clears, drives and smashes all had that same crisp repulsion for which Z62 is loved. The 66Power is apparently not my cup of tea, however. Nothing wrong with it. But just too "thick" for a thin man's taste. I will perhaps give it another try at a lower tension. [MENTION=8430]DinkAlot[/MENTION]: you are a wonderful man for letting us play with these new toys.
[MENTION=32159]Fidget[/MENTION] , don't lower the 66Power tension... it'll be quite dull. Had my 66Control strung at 24x26 lbs, pinging at 1200 Hz, and it felt dull already. Slightly more crispy than ZM65 at the same tension, but certainly not crispy zingy like ZM62 at 23x25 which pinged lower at 1130 Hz. Oh, and btw, we think alike on the thin strings...
It sounds like 66p is very soft. Visor please try it again 2-3lb higher next time I'll be ordering some when it gets released. 69c on feathers tonight... Finally!
Here are some of my observations after about 2 hours of play tonight with 4 of the same spec racket strung with: ZM60XP @23x24 lbs ZM62 @23x25 lbs ZM65 @ 24x26 lbs ZM66XP control @24x26 lbs ZM66XP Control: Noticeably and slightly better repulsion and crispy feel than ZM65 at the same tension, but it didn't seem any better in control. Definitely better tension retention as it only dropped 65 Hz from 1200 Hz right off the machine to 1135 Hz after a few hrs of play. In contrast, ZM65 and most other strings would have dropped about 100 Hz in the same period. Will keep track of the drop over the next few weeks. In short, an improved version of ZM65. ZM60XP: But the star of these four strings is this string. Well, it used to be the ZM62... until now. Feeling noticeably more brittle on strike than ZM62, it survived many a few hard mishits, so I began to have the confidence to increase my power input without fear of the string dying a premature death. And that's when I realized (like Fidget), whoa, this string is everything that ZM62 is, but better. Better in repulsion, in terms of easy crispy power. Hit it right and hard, and it sounds like a string had broken, but that bird will rocket over to the other court. All it requires is timing and technique. Backhand clears, drives, defence, smashes all will have an extra urgency to the shot. Better in sharp crispy sound, which is very useful in adjusting and improving my strike technique. If I hit it wrong, it'll be a thud and won't go too far (which sometimes is a deceptive advantage as a few times I managed to defend with a lift that managed to stay inside the rear tramlines because I had hit it with a thud instead of a sharp paaarp.) But if struck perfectly timed in the sweetspot, that sound is incredible... it's the one and only reason why only feather birds should be played. And it's the sound that guides me and provides myself feedback as to the quality, timing and technique of my shot. Better in feel and control. The nerve endings of your hand will explode with more feel of the shot, especially if you pair it with a frame that already provides lots of feedback. But it will not be overwhelming. And you can use that feeling to control and guide shots better closer to the tape and the lines. Along with the easy power, this will in effect open up the opponent's court. [MENTION=8430]DinkAlot[/MENTION] , many thanks for letting us demo test these wonderful strings. One question: is this 60XP a prototype only, or will it be sold as 62 Fire? Disclaimer: if you like the unique hard feel of BG80, please forget about any other strings other than BG80. There is no replacement for BG80. However, if you like strings like BG66UM, VS850, etc, then you'll like these strings.
Subscribed to thread. Just ordered 10 packs of zymax 62, can't wait to also try some of these strings when they come out. To all you lucky buggers that received samples, thanks for the reviews!
69c is certainly crispy. Not oustanding but does everything well so far. Good solid replacement for Zymax. Can't wait to gets my hands on that 60, maybe 66power too.
Lucky b@$#@€&$... Wish I have access to these strings... { ○.○} ...especially ZM66XP Ctrl, if its really improved ver. of ZM65. The review above is just too short as someone has eyes on his fav string's successor... ; p
[MENTION=115402]xgumbyx[/MENTION] ZM62 is still a very nice repulsive string with great touch and control. Depending on your climate where you are now, as winter is settling in Canada, try not to exceed 25 lbs... otherwise it'll break with the slightest off centre mishit.
[MENTION=96435]DuckFeet[/MENTION] I have a gut feeling that the 69 series is better for plastic. Or if for feathers, it'll need 30 plus lbs to come alive. But thin strings like 62 and 60 are so much more repulsive and crispy for feathers, and strung at lower tensions too which will be easier on the frame.
[MENTION=107099]TeddyC[/MENTION] My experience with 65 is spotty, but during the side by side play comparison with it a few days ago, the 66 Control is a tad harder/crispier and tad more repulsive. But then, I'm a 62 lover... and now a 60 lover...
My 69C arrived - cheers, dbswansea. A nice... well, not nice carroty-orange. I'm running three fresh Gosens at the moment; have to wait till one breaks - or loses flavour - then testing starts.
The 69C is quite "controlly" on first impressions - stiff, inflexible coating. But then Ashaway have always been good at the coatings.
